Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light (AWIAL) has been named Best International Film at the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC). This is the 90th anniversary of NYFCC whose members include Indiewire's David Ehlrichand Kate Erbland, New York Magazine's Alison Wilmore and Bilge Ebiri, The Atlantic's David Sims, and Time's Stephanie Zacharek.
The Malayalam-Hindi bilingual has been winning several awards internationally, including the Gotham Awards for Best International Feature and the Jury Grand Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Earlier this year, it made headlines by winning the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, a historic achievement for Indian cinema.
AWIAL, starring Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, and Chhaya Kadam, follows three women in Mumbai as they face personal and social struggles. While praised abroad for its nuanced storytelling, the film’s slow pace and introspective nature have drawn a mixed response from Indian audiences. It had a limited release in Kerala on September 21 and a wider release across India on November 22.
Produced as an Indo-French collaboration, AWIAL was distributed in India by Rana Daggubati’s Spirit Media. Although the film was considered for the Oscars, it was not chosen as India’s official entry, with Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies selected instead.
